Awdry Bailey & Douglas blogger

AN EXTREMELY EVENTFUL DAY COURTESY OF HAMPTONS INTERNATIONAL!

GATCOMBE PARK INTERNATIONAL HORSE TRIALS....

A day to be remembered between sunshine and rain showers- we had an extremely enjoyable day!

ABD Partner Andrew Douglas and his wife Keshani were invited by Andrew Marshall who is Regional Sales Director of Hamptons International to the Festival of British Eventing presented by Gatcombe Park on Sunday 7 August 2011.

The morning started off by meeting other invitees in the Event Hospitality Marquee for coffee, danish pastries and a "catch up" followed by a visit to the trade stand area...

TRADE STANDS GALORE!

YOU WOULD HAVE A FIELD DAY SHOPPING!

From equestrian kit to cashmere clothing. Accessories for dogs to classy picnic hampers and Jacuzzis - it was all there. The Flying Fox provided country & sporting gift collections. The Sock Company Country supplied hosiery for town and country. Of course there was Dubarry of Ireland and Landrover UK. Henry Hunt sold luxury county clothing with height of fashion twist! Whilst Chatham Marine Ltd - one of of the UK's leading marine footwear and clothing brands were "on hand" too. These were just to name but a few trade stands there. The area was packed full of happy shoppers with their dogs in toe! It was a serious shoppers area.

A delicious lunch was served at 12.00 noon which Andrew and Keshani enjoyed followed by welcome and presentation on cross-country course by Captain Mark Phillips.

Princess Anne and her husband also attended lunch and Princess Anne's Son Peter Phillips who came to say hello along with Harry Mead (Richard Meads son).

After lunch the show jumping had just finished and it was time for Zara Phillips to say goodbye to her all time favourite horse "Toytown". Her husband Mike Tindall was there as well as her mother Princess Anne and brother Peter Phillips to watch Toytown in the ring for the last time before he retires - what a beautiful horse he is.




Mike Tindall with Princess Anne watching
Zara Phillips and Toytown.










Zara Phillips and Toytown.





Shetland Pony Grand National was a fun event. The ponies are only 40" high and the jockeys no older than 13 years of age.

DRESSAGE TO MUSIC WAS A MUST TO SEE..

Dressage to music has become hugely popular since its inception as part of the Olympic Dressage programme at the Atlantic Olympics in 1996 and is known as the musical kur. The rider chooses music that fits the paces and personality of themselves and their horse, and they put together a kur that includes all the movements of the Grand Prix. They can ride the movements in any sequence and the more difficult the sequence, the higher the mark - the test is marked 50% for technical merit and 50% for artistic merit.

Such an impressive sight to see. The horse looks so elegant and graceful as it moves in time to the music.

Afternoon tea was served at 4.00pm with delicious cakes and sandwiches.

TOP OF THE RANGE RANGE ROVER.

A tour of Gatcombe Park was a definite on the agenda - especially in a top of the range Range Rover!

Gatcombe Park





AREA ATTRACTIONS.

The falconry display was an impressive event. The children as well as adults were enthralled with watching these huge birds of prey with their enormous wing spans flying around.

-Winner of British Eventing Open Championship was Andrew Nicolson who rode on Nereo. Score 29.9.

-Winner of Smith & Williamson British Intermediate Championship was Angus Smales on Clover hero. Score 32.5.

Next year this festival will be moved forward a month so as not to clash with the 2012 Olympic Games.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day out and thank you so much to Andrew Marshall and the Hamptons team for inviting us.